The European Investment Bank and the 'Mezzogiorno' in the context of regional development (1958-1973)

The research project "The European Investment Bank and the ‘Mezzogiorno’ in the context of regional development (1958-1973)" aims at investigating the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) activities in the Italian South in a comparative way within the context of the Bank’s regional development interventions. The project is financed by the STAREBEI (STAges de REcherche BEI) programme promoted by the EIB. It is conducted by Antonio Bonatesta, Associate Researcher at the ADGRC, under the supervision of Federico Romero and Carlo Spagnolo.

The research strives to reconstruct various aspects of the Bank’s investments into Southern Italy: the EIB governing bodies’ internal debates on interventions and economic criteria; the question whether loans were aimed at market-oriented sectors or at public investment projects in infrastructure already supported by national government agencies or by the IBRD; how the financial bodies operating in the Mezzogiorno influenced the choices of the EIB; and the cooperation between the European Community bodies and the European Commission on EIB interventions.

The research will question whether the investments achieved their goals in terms of overall growth of regional economies and, more specifically, in entrepreneurial terms and whether the financial and decision-making circuits activated by the EIB influenced the policies of Italy and other states. The project will be completed by April 2019.

Photo caption: The construction by the Alfa Romeo Company of a factory near Naples where diesel engines will be manufactured, under a co-operation agreement of a more general nature reached between Alfa Romeo and a company belonging to another Common Market country. Loan by the Bank: 5 million units of account